It’s hard to believe it’s already that time for The Great American Race - the Daytona 500 – but don’t expect to hear any complaints from NASCAR Nation about the short off-season.
This is the race that even gets casual fans and bettors of NASCAR to pony up a few dollars and enjoy the ride just like the Super Bowl does for once-a-year football fans. It’s also as much of a sign as the SI swimsuit issue that Spring is near and the snow will soon be melting like rubber on hot asphalt.
The entry to the 2009 season carries a ton of new questions just waiting to be answered.
Can the unflappable Jimmy Johnson win a fourth consecutive Sprint Cup Championship?
Will Tony Stewart be able to handle the monumental task of being an owner and a driver?
Will this season prove that the more things change the more they stay the same with Carl Edwards, Jeff Burton Jeff Gordon and Jimmie all finishing high in the Chase?
Many things make this race different. It is one of the few races in the season known as restrictor plate racing. The super speedways (tracks over two miles long) require a restriction in air flow to keep the cars from going over 200 mph because anything over those speeds can turn them into airborne projectiles.
There are specialists at these races like Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr. so those are two drivers to consider when making your wagers for this week. Let’s see how we do for some of the other key matchups for Sunday.
Carl Edwards (1.80) vs. Mark Martin (1.60)
Hendrick Motorsports has put the icing on the cake for at least one season by persuading Martin out of semi-retirement. He has shown signs that he isn’t there just to cheerlead after he qualified outside the front row for Sunday. The 50-year-old likes the superspeedways with an average finish of 17.7 and 65 top 10’s.
Edwards drove to nine wins last season with Roush Racing and you can expect some more back flips in 2009. Edwards has a 21.9 finishing average with two top 10’s at this 2.5 mile oval in just five years in Sprint Cup racing. Carl starts in 16th and is capable of working his way to the top quickly. As long as Martin doesn’t have a mechanical failure his experience should be a strong factor at Daytona.
I like Martin to stay ahead of Edwards.
Tony Stewart (1.50) vs. Kurt Busch (1.95)
Tony has formed his own team with Haas Racing and is back in a Chevrolet. He seems to have handled the transformation with ease but we predict that Dr. Jeckyl will become Mr. Hyde a number of times this year. Stewart sits in the fifth qualifying spot after finishing second behind Jeff Gordon in the Gatorade Duel 1. Driving car No. 14 this season, he has shown he is strong in restrictor plates racing with 10 top 10s and an impressive finishing average of 17.9.
Kurt Busch’s finishing average of 18.4 at Daytona is almost the same as Stewart’s but he starts in 13th and starting positions are important at super speedways. It might be tough to pass Stewart on this track. Go with Stewart.
Jamie McMurray (1.50) vs. Martin Truex Jr. (1.95)
Truex starts on the pole which gives him a big advantage. He was 21st in the Duel while McMurray was 10th. But Truex was playing it safe to preserve his Sunday ride.
McMurray has a win under his belt at Daytona but he is a liability, causing more wrecks than anyone else I know besides Paul Menard. He starts in 21st position.
This one is almost too easy to pick: Truex Jr.
Juan Pablo Montoya (1.95) vs. Brian Vickers (1.50)
Both drivers look strong - Vickers starts in sixth and Montoya in eighth. Vickers has had more experience on super speedways and has six top 10s to show for it. J.P. is in his third year after excelling in Formula 1 but he likes the road races better than the left turns at almost 200 miles per hour.
Vickers will finish ahead of Montoya.